[naru80]

It had just stopped raining and the sky was still overcast with a gentle breeze in the air -- a perfect day for a drive.

So I tool my i20 for a spin. After clocking 78,000 km in 5 years, it has covered less than a hundred in the last 4 months, thanks to covid-19 and WFH.

After a leisurely hour of driving, I returned home.

As I reached my (narrow) parking slot, like a million times before, I pressed the clutch with my left foot, put the gear into neutral, braked with my right foot, gently lifted my left foot off the clutch and stopped the car. But this time something strange happened.

When I pressed my left foot again to press the clutch I couldn't find it!

I hit the dead pedal, brake, felt everywhere but couldn't find the clutch. So I turned off the ignition, stepped out of the car and peered into the footwell, using my hands till I found it. It had pressed and had stayed pressed, refusing to come back to its natural position.

I brought it back to its starting point with my hand, got back into the car, turned on the ignition, pressed the clutch, engaged the reverse gear and the clutch stayed pressed. It just wouldn't come up on its own.

After multiple tries, the clutch did come back to its starting point, and I did eventually manage to reverse into the parking slot.

Now I'm wondering what's the extent of the problem. I had faced zero issues with the clutch before this incident. I drive mostly on highways and try to use the clutch sparingly.

Has anyone face this before? I'm not in a position to spend a lot of money on repairs, so wanted an opinion on what may have gone wrong and what is the bare minimum that I can do to fix it.

Please help!
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I have a 2015 Elite i20 (diesel), done 78k km, driven only by me with everything original (except battery and tyres) and serviced only at Hyundai. Last service was in January. It has mostly stayed parked in the basement since March 19.

[nagr22]

Sounds like the clutch cable is either loose or cut. It's an inexpensive part and should be an easy fix at an FNG.

[Samba]

If am not wrong, i20 diesel has a hydraulic clutch. So most probably it can be a failure of the slave cylinder.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Samba

If am not wrong, i20 diesel has a hydraulic clutch. So most probably it can be a failure of the slave cylinder.

Yup, that is the most likely cause. Has happened to someone I know, but that was in warranty and was replaced FoC.

[WhiteSierra]

Did you check for any leaks? What is the level of clutch oil in the reservoir in engine bay? As samba pointed out, i20 Elite has a hydraulic clutch. There are three things which could go wrong in your case.

1. The master cylinder



2. The slave cylinder



3. clutch tube.



My friend has a Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDI, had similar issue and the culprit was a broken clutch tube. I hope your master and slave cylinders are okay. Please check for any leaks underneath the engine bay. Attaching parts and part numbers for your reference.

[DicKy]

Same story here.

Though happened 6 years back, in the previous gen i20 diesel. 15k kms run and two years old.

UG college over, we went to our friend's place in Wayanad, and his i20 was at our disposal. Smooth engine, smooth road, nothing on the road except cars and trucks, no pesky 2 wheelers or buses. Covering 60-80kms a day was a breeze, relative to the horror our district traffic is.

Last day, went for a movie, came back, pushed the clutch to start and got a scare when my leg felt like in the air. The clutch pedal had buried itself in the carpets. Got it towed and took a couple of days for the parts to come from Kozhikode. He said it had happened once before.

Well, six years have passed and he still dailying it. So all good.

[dhanushs]

My guess is that it should be a leak. First locate where the leak is, then go ahead and replace the part.

OR

Air has been introduced into the system. Please ask your mechanic to give that a complete check too.

[naru80]

Thanks a lot guys. Really appreciate all the help.

There are no signs of any leakage. I drove the car in the morning and the problem is no longer there. But I don't want to risk being stuck in traffic when it reappears so I am going to get it checked and fixed.

I talked to my regular service advisor at Capital Hyundai and he said it is most likely a cylinder issue due to the car being stationary for a long time and it can be fixed for under Rs 5,000. I was worried he would recommend a complete clutch replacement.

Thanks to the information here, I could talk to him with some knowledge. He was completely taken aback when I asked if it could be just a broken clutch tube

He will check it tomorrow and let me know.

Thanks again, and I will update with the final fix and the cost.

[interest]

Have faced this issue 2 times already and suspect a 3rd time now with my I20 2011 model. It happened the first time in the 5th year of ownership at around 40K KMs mark due to which I was stranded on Yamuna expressway and had to get the car towed all the way to my home in Dwarka. Got the master and slave cylinders replaced and the car ran perfectly for 1.5 years when this issue came again. The hyundai service center identified a master slave cylinder issue along with a problem with the clutch plate. Got all these things replaced. The car has been running fine since then but I am beginning to suspect a problem again now with the clutch pedal getting spongy or a bit hard after 15-20mins of running. This time will go to Gomechanic workshop instead of Hyundai. During the last 2 years the car has barely run 5K kms. An internet search seems to indicate that this is a very common issue with I20. I wonder why Hyundai cannot resolve these issues even after knowing them for a decade. the initial 5 years were great with this car but the next 5 years have seen clutch problems, AC problems, starter motor problems and several minor niggles that have proved to be quite costly in total.

[hoomdo]

My i20 will complete two years this September. Due to lockdown it has done just 15k on odo. However recently I have faced a strange problem twice - once in June and again today. After a signal, the car stops moving after putting into first gear. On pressing accelerator it revs up but doesnt move on clutch release. Gear slotting is fine. Clutch pedal play is ok - not depressed. Able to shift gear lever. This time, since yesterday the clutch pedal seemed a bit spongy. No warning lights on console. After waiting around 5 mins the car again behaved normally both times. As per workshop it's a problem with slave cylinder and they are changing it under warranty. However if the problem persists they are saying clutch plates will need to be changed and that as per them is not covered under warranty. I am a very rare clutch user and seems 15k is too low for clutch to be damaged. My earlier waggy went one lakh km without clutch change. Request advice pls.

[madjack]

I am same issues with my 2019 i20 elite. First clutch issue happened at 11000kms. I was told by the service advisor that's it's because of my driving style. I told him I have 2 other cars...been driving since last 25yrs. It got done under warranty. Now again it has happened at 23000kms. It's ridiculous. They have asked to bring it the workshop. Let's see where this goes. Doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in the brand.

[manaljain]

I’m totally done with my elite i20.
Been facing this clutch hardness issue multiple times.. I had to tow the car twice.
Got my master cylinder changed twice and changed my clutch + pressure plates. Still problem hasn’t gotten away.
Now my mechanic is blaming the Slave cylinder being the culprit. Can’t help it anymore and finally decided to sell the car.

[Jebs]

This was the very reason I had sold my car within 3 years of ownership. Clutch pedal suddenly became hard while climbing Kodaikanal guts and stranded in the hairpin bend. No Hyundai RSA ready to check the issue apart from asking me to arrange an own tow vehicle. A local mechanic came to the rescue and did a juggad work and keep the Car moving. Seems to be a brake and clutch cylinder are having some sharing. So the clutch becomes hard when the cylinder hot. Like this way, i came back to Chennai just using only 10% of clutch usage.

Chennai service center checked the issue and changed the slave cylinder. The same problem occurred within 3 months while going to Rameswaram. Used the same technique (taking the periodic break whenever the pedal becomes hard) and less use of clutch.

Service center guys checked the issue and told they've forgot to change the Master cylinder, So this issue occurred. I have started losing the confident on taking the car to the outstation thereon. I have not faced single issue despite of heavy traffic in Chennai everyday. This happens only on long drives. However I have sold the Car on 2018 and being a happy Scross customer now. Between, mine is Elite i20 Petrol. Now I see more customers are reporting similar issues in I20 Facebook page.

[vj_v3]

PROTIP BELOW TO AVOID getting the CAR TOWED IF THIS HAPPENS>

So, Seems like a pretty consistent problem with i20's. My dad's i20 2010 is very sparsely used. We had this problem about 4 years ago and got the slave cylinder changed. Now, his car has been sitting idle for many months and used for short 3-4 km runs recently.

Today, my other car broke down so i decided to take this one to the office and after about 15 kms, the clutch problem began to appear. I could sense that it got a bit spongy and was already thinking about taking a U turn. Went a couple of Kms and the clutch went dead.

PRO TIP: from my experience with the mechanic last time. So, even last time i knew that the clutch sorts itself out after like 20 mins of waiting and then works for a few kms before getting screwed again. So, the mechanic poured water on the slave cylinder (to cool it down i gues) and it would start working immediately. And to keep the slave cylinder cooler for longer, he later put a wet cloth on it and we were able to drive a longer distance without problems.

I did the same today, i didnt have a cloth, so i just poured water. And then once the car gets moving, i avoided using the clutch at all by directly changing gears (Rev matching). i was able to drive a good distance like this until i hit traffic and it died again. I poured water a couple more times and was able to get moving each time and reached home.